ARTICLES COVERAGE

811 challengers arrived in Shizuoka in an attempt to earn a spot on the Japan National team. This was the largest Nationals tournament in the world, making it anything but an easy ride to the top.

After sixteen rounds of intense competition, it was Masahide Moriyama who remained the last man standing. Hoisting the trophy and earning the title of National Champion for himself, Moriyama will also represent Japan at the upcoming World Magic Cup in Barcelona. The finalist, Naoya Nanba, also earned a spot on the team as the finalist of Japan Nationals 2018. This stellar performance came just six weeks after he made the Top 8 at Grand Prix Chiba.

The two will be accompanied by Japan's top Pro Point earner, 11th-ranked Ken Yukuhiro. Yukuhiro dominated the tournament by going 10-0 and swooping into the Top 8. In the quarterfinals, he even had to defeat Yuuya Watanabe to advance.

Not only did Watanabe-san make back-to-back Nationals Top 8s, so did last year's National Champion Kenta Harane. Despite narrowly missing the National team, the reigning World Magic Cup Champions, proved that Magic was indeed a skill-intensive strategy game. Rounding out the rest of the Top 8 were So Iwabuchi, Takashi Boku, and Kazuhiro Suzuki!

Congratulations to Masahide Moriyama once again for winning Japan Nationals 2018!

After five rounds of Standard and three rounds of Core Set 2019 Booster Draft, only three players out of 811 achieved the coveted 8-0 record. Steamrolling their way past hundreds of other competitors were Japan’s Pro Point leader (11) Ken Yukuhiro, and two relative-unknowns So Iwabuchi and Ryoko Kitajima.

Close behind at 7-1 were several luminaries, such as Shuhei Nakamura, (19) Yuuya Watanabe, Kenta Harane, and Chikara Nakajima. There were also several big names with a 6-2 record, such as Shintaro Ishimura, Kentaro Yamamoto, Kenji Tsumura, Riku Kumagai, (21) Shota Yasooka, Ryoichi Tamada, and Kazuyuki Takimura!

Tomorrow, competitions will partake in yet another Booster Draft, followed by two more rounds of Standard before the Top 8 cut. A couple more elimination rounds will determine who goes to the World Magic Cup in Barcelona, while a final showdown will determine the Japan National Champion!

If you’re interested in jumping in on some of the action, head over to www.twitch.tv/mtgjp for live Japanese coverage, or watch the timeshifted coverage (with English commentary) at www.twitch.tv/magic after coverage of Grand Prix Detroit concludes!